


Betrayal of the Highest Order

by for_darkness_shows_the_stars



Series: What Comes After [13]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Crack, F/M, Fluff, Gaang (Avatar) as Family, Gen, I can't with those two, Sokka will never recover, The Jasmine Dragon, but this is ridiculous, it's clown-to-clown communication, let's give it up for the only functional canon ship!!!, oh my God what did I just write, omg sukka cuteness, poor aang doesn't understand what he did wrong, suki loves sokka, that's why they get along so well, zuko and sokka share a single braincell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27224266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/for_darkness_shows_the_stars/pseuds/for_darkness_shows_the_stars
Summary: Four years after the War, the Gaang reunites once more in Ba Sing Se. It's been a few months since they all saw each other last, but a lot can change in such a short amount of time. And sometimes the friends you thought would always be by your side blindside you in the most despicable of ways.Or; Aang has a growth spurt.
Relationships: Aang & Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Series: What Comes After [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981828
Comments: 11
Kudos: 164





	Betrayal of the Highest Order

The Jasmine Dragon, as strange as the thought was, was empty. Not because the customers suddenly didn’t _want_ the best tea in Ba Sing Se—but because the owner himself had closed the door that day to all but a select few.

Some might call it classist—after all, the select few in question were very much at the top of the social hierarchy, but their titles and positions were hardly what had urged the kindly old Mushi, (or Prince Iroh, the Dragon of the West, if that’s what you prefer), to allow only six particular persons in. Well … nine, if you count a lemur, an air bison, and a baby dragon.

* * *

“So I told him— _Sokka!_ ”

Sokka had just elbowed him in the ribs. That had to be illegal. He wasn’t sure, but there absolutely had to be a law about elbowing the Firelord in the ribs. Perhaps not as such, because who in their right mind would even _think_ to elbow the Firelord in the ribs—but this counted as a non-lethal, not-permanently-damaging physical assault on the Firelord, and that was punishable via _being boiled alive in oil_.

He … should probably get to reviewing the punitive system one of these days.

“ _Look_ ,” Sokka urged, and pointed towards the entrance, where a tall figure had obscured the doorway, a lemur perched on their shoulder like a parrot. Not that he was one to judge—his neck just so happened to be Druk’s favourite resting place, and he didn’t have the heart to deny _anything_ to that little dragon.

Then the figure came into light, and Zuko’s jaw dropped.

* * *

“Hey guys!” Avatar Aang greeted cheerfully, grinning as though he hadn’t just broken Sokka’s heart for all times.

Mute in horror, he watched as his baby sister and his _girlfriend_ marched over to the Avatar and _hugged_ him. Hugged him like he hadn’t just _ruined_ Sokka. Stabbing him would’ve hurt less.

“How …” Zuko muttered next to him, golden eyes blown asymmetrically wide, “how could he _do this_ to us?”

“I _trusted_ him,” Sokka breathed. “We _all_ trusted him.”

He watched as Toph— _Toph,_ who could always be counted on to take Zuko’s side, if not his—stretched out on her tiptoes and punched him in the arm. Next to him, he could swear Zuko winced.

No wonder—four years on the Dragon Throne has helped him craft a brilliant blank mask, but not even that could fully hide his heartbreak.

 _Everyone_ was acting like Aang hadn’t just ripped out his heart and _stomped_ on it. This was worse than that one time on Ember Island he demanded they all go vegetarian for a day just to see how the Air Nomads used to live—and Sokka _still_ hasn’t recovered from that day.

“Guys?” Aang asked a bit uncertainly, moving to step closer to Zuko and him. Out of the six of them, he was the only one not dressed in soft Earth Kingdom greens, and it only served to set off just _how deep_ this betrayal ran.

Staring at his two best friends, Sokka could perfectly observe the full intensity of it.

Zuko, turned towards Aang so only the right side of his face was fully visible, with nothing to give away his true identity save the dragon resting snugly on his shoulders, and the pale gold of his eyes. He’d grown taller since the end of the War, but still retained that slender, lean build that allowed him to beat Sokka when sparring _every bloody time_. How the guy managed to fit workout sessions into his very packed Firelord schedule, Sokka had no idea, but whoever found the time, he would _love_ to exchange some scheduling ideas with them.

And now those pale golden eyes looked up to Aang. _Up._

Because Aang … Aang looked like a pair of giants had grabbed his arms and legs and then _stretched._ How on Earth was he so bloody _tall_?! Sokka stared at his feet, and then he just looked up … and up … and up … and now his neck was starting to hurt, but still, all her could see was a half-bare chest.

If there’s one thing that gave him comfort, it’s that Aang’s muscle mass hadn’t quite gotten the memo yet, so even though he was unfairly tall, he was _still_ as skinny as an anorexic stick. But he had no doubt that would change too, one day, thus cementing this betrayal in its entirety for all times.

“Aang,” Zuko spoke, in that oddly stilted way that Sokka had dubbed his _Firelord voice_. The Firelord voice was usually accompanied by the _Firelord posture_ (that is to say, straightening his back and squaring his shoulders), and the _Firelord face_ (the vaguely displeased expression that was as close to blank as someone whose left eye was burned into a permanent glare could accomplish).

Aang just grinned. _Oh you bastard, there’s no need to_ gloat. “Hey, Sifu Hotman!”

Zuko didn’t even react— _that_ was the strength of the Firelord face. It could resist even the _Hotman offensive_.

“Aang,” Sokka echoed.

“Hey Sokka … what is it with you guys? Do I have something on my clothes?” Aang scrounged up his eyebrows and looked down. Blast him and his innate adorableness!!! Sokka would _not_ be fooled.

“How _could_ you?” Sokka didn’t even recognize his voice. Gone was the cheerfulness, the ease, _everything_. The full force of his pain—apparent in those three simple little words.

“What … what did I do?” Aang’s grey eyes were confused, maybe even _hurt_ , but Sokka’s pain was too great to be bothered with others’.

“You _know_ what you did,” Zuko spoke.

“I … what?”

“You don’t …” Sokka breathed out, as emotion threatened to overwhelm him, “you don’t even _care …_ ”

“I can’t even _look_ at you right now,” Zuko growled, finally breaking the impenetrable Firelord visage. He bowed his head, hunched his shoulders. The sleeping dragon on his shoulders awoke, and, sensing Zuko’s agony, nuzzled against his cheek to provide what comfort he could. The gesture was futile—no amount of adorable dragon cuddling could repair the hole in Sokka’s heart, but he still wished _someone_ cared enough to offer it.

But no, his beloved girlfriend, his light, the love of his life—had chosen to betray him as well. So had his dear baby sister— _Zuko’s_ girlfriend, might he add, so at least he wasn’t the only one abandoned.

How could this have happened? Only a few minutes ago, everything was right in the world. Now Sokka’s life was _over_. Not even Zuko could understand this—he may have lost his title as the tallest man of Team Avatar, but he was still squarely in the middle. Sokka … wasn’t. He was tiny now. He was the baby. The _little one_.

He wondered if this was what Toph felt at all times—she, after all, was the shortest _person_ in Team Avatar.

But still … His life was over. _Over_.

* * *

“I just don’t understand, Suki,” he mumbled, as they walked hand-in-hand in a fancy Upper Ring park. It was very important that they keep away from the Lower Ring, because that’s where Zuko and Katara went for _their_ walk, and Sokka has experienced too much anguish today to witness the sight of his sister making out with his best friend.

Not that he’d ever actually _seen_ them make out. No, those bastards were sickeningly _wholesome_ in public. But he was sure they did it in private. After all, what else could all those ‘afternoon teas’ and ‘late-night conversations’ be about?

Still. Better safe than sorry.

Suki, the traitor, chuckled. “I don’t think he had a growth spurt just to spite you, honey.”

“I _knew_ you’d take his side.”

“Spirits, Sokka! There are no _sides_!”

“I …” he shook his head. “How can you take it? Dating me anymore? I am … ruined.” He bowed his head, unable to look at this amazing, brilliant, radiant woman, who deserved _so much better_.

“Honey,” Suki said, stopping. He had a feeling she wasn’t taking this quite as seriously as he was, but he couldn’t fathom why. She took his chin between her thumb and forefinger and forced him to look into her eyes—beautiful, like everything of hers was, often changing colour according to the environment. He’d seen them grey, and blue, and violet. Now, however, surrounded by the lush foliage and nature perfectly tamed to look like the wild, they were green.

Yesterday, while sailing over the ocean, Sokka thought there was nothing more beautiful than Suki with blue eyes. Oh, how wrong he was.

“I’m not going to break up with you because you’re suddenly shorter than Aang,” Suki said, lips curving. “Are you implying I’m that shallow?”

“No,” he hastened to say, “of course not!”

She propped herself up on her toes and landed a quick, chaste peck on his lips. It still sent his blood boiling. “Good. You’ll survive.”

**Author's Note:**

> There are a few things I'll allow from the post-canon material:  
> -Druk  
> -Zuko's cute little bangs  
> -Katara's awesome dress from the comics  
> -Actually, everyone's outfits from the comics  
> -Sokka!!! Suki!!!  
> -AANG IS THE TALLEST IN THE GAANG
> 
> [Tumblr.](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/stars-and-darkness)


End file.
